Integrated circuits can be fabricated for a variety of general and application-specific purposes. Defects may be introduced in the fabrication of integrated circuits, and these defects reduce the production yield of working integrated circuits from the fabrication process. The production yield of the fabrication process directly affects the cost of fabricating working integrated circuits.
The power consumption of an integrated circuit directly affects the cost of operating the integrated circuit. Because leakage current frequently contributes a significant component to the power consumption of an integrated circuit, the power consumption of an integrated circuit can be significant even when the integrated circuit is quiescent. The cost of operating an integrated circuit can be improved by reducing the operating or quiescent power consumption of the integrated circuit.
The present invention may address one or more of the above issues.